Stephen Strasburg to be shut down: Washington Nationals fans might have more reason to be angry than Boston Red Sox fans

The Washington Nationals plan on shutting down their best pitcher Stephen Strasburg, and he's not even injured.

Imagine a best-case-scenario:

One year from now, in early September of 2013, the Boston Red Sox are sitting atop the American League East. Their newly revamped roster has blended perfectly.

Will Middlebrooks is mashing the ball, Dustin Pedroia looks like the 2008 MVP, David Ortiz is healthy and Jacoby Ellsbury is running amok on the base paths. Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz have become the starters many of us always thought they would be. Andrew Bailey is back to his pre-injury form, making him among the league's most dominant closers.

But better than any of the redemptive tales is the story of Rubby De La Rosa. At just 24 years old, De La Rosa has been better than advertised. The 5'11" fireballer from the Dominican Republic looks a lot like the pitcher he grew up idolizing, Pedro Martinez.

Dominating the league and mowing down batters, De La Rosa has the Red Sox headed on a path to October baseball. The only problem is that he won't be able to pitch in the playoffs once the Red Sox get there.

The Red Sox are thrilled with De La Rosa and his progress, but he has a history of arm trouble. He had to undergo Tommy John surgery in 2011, so as a precautionary move the Red Sox have decided to shut him down in mid-September--not just for the remainder of the regular season, but for the playoffs too.

De La Rosa's the best pitcher on Boston's staff. He's fully healthy and he doesn't have any noticeable arm troubles. He's had arm issues in the past but none in the present. His velocity is up and he's pitching well, but in an effort to protect their long-term investment, the Red Sox decided to pull the plug on his 2013 season.

That would go over well in Boston, right?

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with the 2012 Washington Nationals and pitcher Stephen Strasburg.

The Nationals are preparing to tell their fans and players that winning a World Series is not the team's top priority.

They can dress it up in any manner they'd like, but the team's decision to shut Strasburg down on Sept. 12 because of an innings limit is an example of how zany theories on pitch counts and innings limits have become.

I'm sure I'm not the first person to break this to the Nationals, but winning a World Series isn't very easy and it doesn't happen very often. When teams get a chance to contend for a ring, they should go after it.

Protecting a young pitching staff makes sense, but young cores rarely work out.

How many times have baseball fans been told about "the next great young pitching staff"? How many times has a talent-laden young team hyped as a future dynasty failed to produce as many rings as expected?

In the 1980s the New York Mets were slated as the next dynasty. They were probably the most talented team in baseball from 1985-1988. They played in, and won, one World Series.

The Oakland A's of the late 1980s took the torch next. They played in three consecutive World Series from 1988-1990. Favored to win all three of them, they won one.

The Atlanta Braves of the 1990s had a crew of young pitchers who actually developed into the top starters many projected them to become. With Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Greg Maddux the Braves were annual playoff entrants, but captured only one World Series.

What about all the other sets of great young pitchers who didn't work out as planned?

The 2003 Florida Marlins won a World Series with an impressive array of young starting pitching highlighted by Dontrelle Willis, Brad Penny, A.J. Burnett and World Series MVP Josh Beckett.

None of those Marlins developed into aces.

History tells us the Nationals should capitalize on this season's success rather than look to the future for opportunities that may never arrive. With the best record in baseball, the Nationals are in a great position to attain every franchise's goal: a World Series title.

One would think the quest for a championship would take precedent over everything else. But it hasn't. The Nationals would rather bench their team's best starting pitcher through the playoffs, while he's fully healthy, than let Strasburg violate his innings limit.

There is zero assurance that Washington's strategy will work. Innings limits might reduce the chance of arm issues, but they haven't been proven to work for every pitcher in every circumstance. Plus, by shutting down Strasburg, the Nationals have managed to do what they're attempting to protect against. They've taken Strasburg off the mound for an extended period of time when the team needs him most.

For all the problems in Boston--Red Sox fans can and should be very displeased with the team's performance--at least nobody can question the club's priorities. Winning World Series titles is obviously the goal.

In Washington, D.C., the Nationals clearly believe capitalizing on a World Series opportunity is less than paramount.